23 Feb February 23, Schooled Up Redfish

Got Mike out yesterday to check an area that I had not been to since a year ago last spring. I knew it was a little early in the season for the redfish schools I was looking for to be in this area, but I had a feeling they might be early. We launched our kayaks around 9:30 in lower Tampa Bay and paddled out.

I saw wakes moving away as I poled into the area with Mike paddling along side me, first cast of the day resulted in a pulled hook on an over slot fish. I suggested we get out of our boats and wade on these spooky fish, which paid off with a red just over 29″ several casts later. Two more reds and a big 24″ trout later we called it a day. The tides weren’t the best with a slow incomer, but knowing they’re here will let allow me to target these fish until they leave the area. We got off the water around 3.